Weight On Her Shoulders
by honeyxtea
Summary: Watch as Sakura Haruno is forced to grow up in the same solitude that her fellow Team 7 members suffered through.


**A/N Okay yeah so new fanfic, I'm sorry I should be updating my others, but hey, this came into my mind and I couldn't let it slip by. I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters.**

"_Sakura"_

_Viridian eyes gazed up upon a pitying smile._

"_Can you promise me something?" _

"_Yes mommy anything!" A young pinkette hummed. Her lips curved in a shy smile as she on looked her fragile mother. Her chubby little hand encircled around her mother's frail hand, squeezing as a sign of assurance. _

_Her mother's shallow features fell a miniscule amount, and her navy eyes swam with lidded grief. Her lips thinned, and she gazed down at the young pinkette worriedly. The girl's fate was still undetermined, and sadly she would not be there to help form her daughter's life. _

_Her chapped lips parted, trying to form words, but hesitated, carefully mulling over the impact the words she spoke would have on her daughter's young, fragile mind. Finally a rasping voice cascaded down upon the young girl's ears._

"_Sakura, promise me… you'll grow up to become a good girl... someone who would make me proud, and alwa-"a deep cough released itself from her chest, the metallic scent of blood drifted in the air. "Always… carry the will of fire in your heart." She finished breathlessly._

_She turned her head slowly to glance at her daughter, the way the smile the small girl wore on her face folded down made her heart ache. She felt the tiny hands clasped onto her hand tighten, and the small girl got closer and put her lips to her ear. _

"_I promise." She whispered. _

_Tears released themselves from Mrs. Haruno's eyes as she lifted her frail arms and enveloped her daughter in a loving embrace. _

_This was it. _

'_I'm sorry.' She murmured into the girls pink locks._

_The delicate hands that held onto the small girl fell, but Sakura stayed latched to her mother's side, waiting to hear the next heart beat that would never come._

"_Sakura."_

Sakura snapped out of her dazed state and she sent a withering glare at the man leaning on the door frame of her modest room, irritation was clearly displayed on her face.

"What." She snapped, her mood suddenly foul as she bore into the dark orbs of none other than Genma Shiranui.

"Whoa, calm it down." He drawled, as he shifted the senbon to the other side of his mouth. I'm just checking to see if you're okay, you seemed a little far off there."

Sakura's eyes narrowed and a scowl played on her lips.

"I'm fine." She scoffed.

Genma sighed deeply and casually placed his hands into his pockets. This little ball of rage was going to be nothing but trouble. He had no idea why the Hokage thought it was a good idea to put this little brat in his care. For the majority of his life he has done his best not to impress the higher ranking authorities so he _wouldn't_ receive this kind of responsibility. He just needed to get paid and get laid, that was his motto. However, now, with this little brat under his roof, he found it would be difficult with the getting laid part.

"You know brat, you're going to be living under my roof from now on, so let get some info out of you. So spill it, age, likes, dislikes, dreams, whatever."

Sakura bristled, her face going pink at his blatant rudeness.

"I'm seven years old, I like reading, I don't like you, and I don't have any dreams." She clipped with her eyes angrily staring up into his, silently telling him to go away and to leave her to her reading.

Genma seemed to be unhindered by her annoyance, and continued pressing her for information.

"Anything else?"

The pinkette shook her head vigorously, and continued to glare up at him.

"That's it? Kid, I'm taking care of you here, I think you owe it to me to tell me a little more than that." He said exasperation evident in his tone. Silence followed after his little speech, and he couldn't help but feel a little pissed. This kid was going to be living under his roof, eating his food, and he can't even know more than three facts about her?

"Here, at least tell me what book your reading." He said at last.

Sakura blinked, her scowl faltered at the mention of the book.

"It doesn't have a name." She said, as she delicately pulled out a leather bound book out from behind her tiny body.

Genma stared, suddenly taken aback. The book was the size of his fucking _head._

"Damn…" He whispered as he scratched the back of his head. What kind of freak did he adopt?

Finally, drawing himself out of his surprise, he held out his hand. Sakura's angry orbs shifted to his hand in a questioning manner.

"Can I see it?" He said at last.

He noticed that the pinkette started clutching the book tighter to her chest at those words. Her glare seemed to intensify into something protective.

"No." She replied vehemently. Her knuckles were white from gripping the book so tightly.

In any other case Genma would have thought this would have looked comical, with the way the book was almost half the size of her body, but she was glaring so fiercely at him, as if she was a lioness guarding her cubs, it almost scared him. Just what was that book to her? It looked like some ordinary textbook, there has got to be a deeper meaning.

He exhaled, and fumbled with the senbon between his lips. This little girl was obviously going to be a handful, but if she was going to be a handful, then she was going to be a handful he'll deal with tomorrow.

"Whatever." He mumbled defeated. Pivoting on his heel, he lazed out of the room, leaving the small pinkette to her own accord.

Sakura's viridian eyes gazed at the doorway for a moment, her heart pounding hard against the leather bound book held firmly against her undeveloped chest.

'_It wouldn't kill you to at least try to get along.' _Her conscious whispered softly. '_He's trying to help you.'_

"I don't want his help." She mumbled to herself, as she buried her face behind the leathery surface of the book.

She had been living all by herself for a year. She didn't need that old geezer to interfere with her life. She was doing fine on her own! She was a big girl!

Sakura stomped her foot in aggravation. God damn that old man! There were plenty of orphans in the city who were living on their own. Why was he forcing 'special attention' on her? She would prosper much better without such a hindrance as this supposed _caretaker. _There are other kids in the village that need a roof to live under, but no, here she was being forced to be house mates with that senbon wielding asshole.

Mumbling profanities that her seven year old self should not know, the pinkette stumbled over to her bed and withdrew the covers, heaving her and her over-sized book under.

She would not stand for this insult to her self-worth. She could handle herself just fine.

Tomorrow she would prove that to everyone.

X-X-X

Rays of sunlight tickled Genma's face. Blearily, he blinked open his eyes, letting the bright light consume his vision.

He released his arm from the tangle of blankets and reached for the stationary senbon on his night stand, which he swiftly flicked up towards his lips, snapping his teeth closed around the cool metal.

A silence engulfed his room and nothing but incessant chirping of the birds outside his window could be heard.

Groaning and doing a little stretch, Genma slipped a robe over his boxer clad body and stepped out of his warm futon and onto the frigid wooden flooring.

He was going to have to check on the brat, after all, she was his first priority at the moment. He doubted she was even up yet, but he might as well, he couldn't risk her messing shit up for him.

Shuffling towards her room he stifled a yawn as he turned the brass nob and stealthily slid inside the young girl's room. A figure was slightly defined under the blankets of the lone futon in the room, and that was all he needed to know.

Sliding out of the room and closing the door silently behind him, he started down towards the kitchen.

Man he was lucky she didn't go doing something rash after last night, I mean Genma knew that his first impression wasn't that strong, but the girl had been absolutely livid and had somehow rationalized that he was the enemy. He was so sure that she was going to do something stupid like running away…

"Shit." He hissed.

Genma catapulted himself back through the hallway.

The brat hadn't had a fucking chakra signature! He knew her chakra systems weren't developed yet, but he still should be able to sense her.

That little shit _ran away_!

Genma forcefully slammed open the door, his face in a snarl. He furiously made his way towards the crumpled futon and ripped away the blanket.

"_What the fuck."_ He hissed, his senbon drooping in lips.

She was there. Her book and all, but he couldn't _sense _her. What kind of game was she playing?

His eyes narrowed at the girl who was shifting in her bed. Her pink hair was splayed across her pillow and her pale skin was illuminated by the sunlight that danced across her skin, and she was still clinging to the god forsaken book, but no matter how innocent she looked, he couldn't wash the suspicion out of his system. The expression plastered onto her resting face was something he could not decipher. She almost seemed to be in pain, probably a nightmare or something.

"Sakura!" He bellowed. A smirk graced his lips as he saw her wince.

A tired groan left her lips

"What the hell Hirosh-" The small girls eyelids snapped open, and her head twisted around so fast that he cringed at the crack that veberated from it.

"Go away." She seethed, pinning him with her furious gaze.

For a moment, Genma was curious to what she had been going to say, but he swiftly clipped that thought out of his mind.

Finally, he leveled her gaze with a bored one, and he nonchalantly ruffled her hair, which earned him a growl of protest.

"Food." He said blankly, jabbing his thumb towards the door.

"I'll eat when I want to." She scoffed back, she crossed her arms stubbornly.

Genma sniffed, he couldn't force the kid to eat if she didn't want to. Besides, it's saving money if she doesn't eat. Sure, the moral in that wasn't good, but he never was one to have good morals.

"Do what you want." He said blankly as he exited the room with a backwards wave.

Sakura lowered her head, letting her long hair curtain her face. A deep frown was present on her lips as she gazed down at her hands.

She had almost said _his_ name.

Sakura's eyes lifted up from her lap and she gazed at the window, almost longingly, like a bird yearning for freedom. In all honesty, she felt very vulnerable staying under this strange man's roof, and she just wanted to get away.

Today she would leave this house, discreetly she might add. Sakura had to admit, the night before she had been thinking of running away during the early hours of the morning, but that would have been too obvious.

Today, however, she would run away. Run like she always has, nobody would be able to chain her to this place. _No one._

**A/N Yes so little Sakura is a bundle of anger. This also takes place before the Uchiha Massacre, so I'm just going to play that to my advantage. I'm not really sure where this is going to go. I'm just winging it for now. Send me Ideas for this if you like, and please oh please leave a review! Seriously guest or not they make my day.**

**Thanks a bunch for reading!**


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